Europe tries to reboot Ukraine, Russia peace negotiations

Leaders from 14 European nations, the Turkish foreign minister, and representatives from NATO and the European Commission gathered in London over the weekend to draft a Ukraine peace plan. The United States was not invited to the summit. Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday told the leaders that Western countries must remain united in their support for Ukraine. The United Kingdom, France, and a handful of other countries were collaborating to continue supplying Kyiv with financial and military aid, and to make sure Ukraine has a role in any peace talks, Starmer said.

The summit began the day after a heated exchange between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksyy at the White House. Following the public disagreement, Trump said that Zelenskyy was not ready for peace and was not grateful for American support. The leaders had been negotiating a deal to grant the United States access to Ukraine’s natural mineral supplies, but the status of that deal now seems uncertain.

What else is happening in the war? Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week ordered the U.S. Cyber Command to suspend offensive operations against Russia. The move, which was reported first by The Record, appears to be a tactic to encourage Russian leader Vladimir Putin to continue negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. The order does not apply to the National Security Agency.

Dig deeper: Read Stephen Kloosterman and Christina Grube’s report about the public spat at the White House last week.